Gender Flashcards
Role of chromosomes and hormones- chromosomes AO1 evidence or A03 (dependent of Q)
-46 chromosomes in human body (23 pairs)
Inside nucleus
-Carry the genetic information (genotype) that codes for physical and behavioural characteristics (phenotype) like eye colour and predisposition to mental illnesses
-23 pairs determines sex
XX- female
XY- male
Mother egg always contains X chromosome and sperm will either carry x or y
Up to about 6 week male and female feotuses look the same
-sexual organs no ifferent
The Y chromosome carries the SRY gene which causes testes to develop in an XY embryo
The testes produce androgens (male sex hormone) causing the embryo to become male without it the embryo would become female
-The David Reimer case
He started his life as an identical twin
-They were both circumcised at six months
-bruce’s operation was botched and the majority of his penis was burnt off
Doctor advised parents have the rest of the peanuts and test removed and raise him as a girl
-This case provided a unique natural experiment-normal XY male raised as female and identical twin as the control
However -Brenda was not happy and changed back to a male when told as a teen
-Changed his name to David and committed suicide in 2004
-This supports the role of chromosomes and hormones as it shows in influence of nature overriding nurture
-Shows biological gender cannot be changed by social intervention
-Even though David was brought up as female he displayed masculine characteristics and change back to male eventually
-Shows that no matter what biological processes underlie differentiation some gender identity are hardwired into our body
Chromosomes and hormones- hormones A01
-hormones are chemical messengers hat are released from glands into the bloodstream
- most gender development occurs due to the influence of hormones
They act upon brain development and development of reproductive organs
-testosterone; helps development of male foetus, affects brain development both prenatal and later in childhood, research has focused on the behavioural effects and its link to agression
- oestrogen: female sex hormone, in much higher concentrations in females, helps regulation of menstrual cycle and development of secondary sexual characteristics like breast development and directing the menstrual cycle, can causes some women to experience heightened emotions and irritability during menstrual cycle
-Oxytocin: produced in higher quantities tin females, stimulates lactation in females, released in mass quantities during labour and after childbirth and makes the new mother feel ‘in love’ with the baby,
Reduce the effect of stress hormone cortisol
Oxytocin has ruled the stereotype that men are less interested in intamcy and closeness in relationships
Chromosome and hormone- AO3 supporting research
-animal research has shown that female rats stopped displaying caring behaviour towards their babies while given a drug to stop oxytocin and oestrogen production
- male castarted mice reduced agressive biting, it returned to normal when injected with testosterone
Injections
-female mice also increased agressive behaviours after testosterone injections
- a strength adv these results suggests hormonal changes results in changes to sex typed behaviour
- however is n animal study so may not be generalisable to humans as we have different physiology so may be different in humans
Hormones and chromosomes- limitation of animal studies
-animal studies allow for controlled experiments showing casual relationships, and allow for studies that couldn’t be performed on humans foe ethical reasons, so generalising to gender in humans may nit be valid
- human exprience of gender is influenced by socialisation (smith and Lloyd), by culture ( mead) and develop of cognitive schemas (Martin and halverson) processes that are not present in most animals
Chromosomes and hormones- AO3 limitation mead
Research into cross culture gender differences has been used to critiscise the role of chromosome and hormones in sex and gender
- mead conducted research into three tribes in papa New Guinea
- in the arapesh both males and females displayed non agressive gentile, typically feminine behaviour
- in the mundugmor tribe both males and females behaved in a masculine way, aggressive and assertive
- in the tchambuli tribe sex role behaviour was completely reversed
- this therefore suggests that environmental factors have a larger influence of gender development of the main cause was biological then the same gender differences would be seen across all the tribes
Chromosomes and hormones- deterministic A03
-ignores contribution of SLT to gender behaviour it only focuses on nature not nurture
-It implies that people have little control over their behaviour
-Women are natural nurturers and men are naturally aggressive
-Consequently in modern society equal opportunity policy doomed to fail as men are naturally more competitive/risktaking so will progress up career ladders
-All the explanations would be better like the biosocial approach
-Maybe a more interactionist approach which states nature and nurture both play a role integrated in the influence of both should be employed
-It states that the biological male/female is born social labouring and differential treatment of boys/girls interact with biological factors to steer gender development
SLT AO1-
-explain the influence of environment in shaping our gender identity and that social context plays a role in development and states that all behaviour even gender is learned from observing others
- It was attention to nurture in shaping development including others at the child will come in contact with for example parents careers and teacher teachers and the media
- Direct reinforcement: children are more likely be reinforced for demonstrating gender appropriate behaviour
-E.G boys may be encouraged to be assertive and engaging rough play to show distinct gender appropriate behaviour and maybe punished for being gentle passive and showing emotion
-differential reinforcement is the way in which boys and girls are encouraged to show distinct gender appropriate behaviour
-They learn gender identity through this
SLT AO1- vicarious reinforcement
-indirect reinforcement; if the consequences of another person’s behaviour are pleasant. The behaviour is more likely to be imitated.
-If the consequence of the behaviour is the punishment the behaviour is less likely to be imitated for example if a daughter sees her mother be complimented for wearing a dress she’s likely to do the same
-If she’s punished, it will be less likely to be repeated
-if a boy sees a male classmate being teased for displaying feminine characteristics, it’s unlikely to be copied
SLT AO1- identification
-The process were by a child attaches themselves to a person who is seem to be like them a role model
-Someone who possesses the qualities is the child sees as rewarding
- role models are seem to be attractive high status and usually the same sex as the child
-when a child imitates the behaviour of a role model it’s called modelling
E.G a little girl copies her mother setting a table or feed her doll using a toy bottle modelling the behaviour she’s witnessed her mother doing .
-For example a boy may see an actor on the TV who is characterise as being strong and dominant he identifies with this character and will model his behaviour.
SLT AO1 mediational processes
-social learning theorists have also suggested four mediational processes that are central to learning the gender behaviour
-Attention- to the extent which we noticed certain behaviour
-Retention-how well behaviour is remembered
-Reproduction-whether we can perform the behaviour
-Motivation-what are the perceived rewards outweigh the perceived costs
SLT A03 contradictory evidence
-SOT which is very little emphasis on the influence of dreams and chromosomes and only considered the role of environment in gender development
-A weakness is the contradicting evidence we have seen in the case of David Reimer
-He was born biologically male but due to an accident he was raised as female
-It was not possible to raise him as a female a and override chromosome influence
-He reported he never felt like a female and when told he was biologically male he changed his identity to male
-He reported always feeling he was in the wrong gender identity
-Therefore the story suggests that biology has a stronger influence on gender identity and socialisation
-Modern research is a more likely to accept the bio social theory of gender; that there are innate biological differences between boys and girls that are reinforced by social interactions and cultural expectations
-However it is shown taking a more interactionist approach would be better
SLT A03 - cultural differences
A strength is that cross cultural findings show that gender roles are different in different cultures are influenced by environment
-Mead studied three tribes in Papua New Guinea
-I found a different pattern of male and female behaviour for each culture
Initially, our arapesh men and women both were gentle displayed feminine characteristics
-The mundugamore men and women were both violent displaying masculine characteristics
-tchambuli had gender roles completely reversed with women being dominant and men dependent
-therefore it shows that gender differences are determined by social factors and support supports the view of the social learning theory that gender is influenced by nurture.
-however a number of studies have found that parents do not directly teach gender behaviour to their children through selective reinforcement and punishment with children acquire the gender appropriate behaviour nonetheless
-So therefore maybe the learning of gender role occur through multiple processes rather than just reinforcement and identification.
SLT supporting evidence - smith and Lloyd
Evidence by Smith and Lloyd supporting the idea that perceived gender appropriate behaviour is vicariously reinforced by socialisation
-They found when 4 to 6 months olds were dressed up as girls they were rewarded by adults for being pretty calm and feminine
-When the same children were just his boys, the adults rewarded them for playing with hammers being aggressive and assertive
-This demonstrates the significant social influence that children experience from an early age which contributes to the formation of stereotypes and what’s considered as gender appropriate behaviour in that culture.
SLT- supporting evidence
-Perry and bussey showed film clips to children aged 8 to 9
-In the film boys and girls were seen selecting an apple or a pair both gender neutral items
-Later the children were given a choice of fruit
-Boys selected the fruit that they had seen the other boys selecting and the girls did the same
-This shows that children model gender appropriate behaviour they observe in their peers
This is a strength to the learning theories explanation of gender development as it demonstrates modelling of gender appropriate behaviour
Psycodynamic A01-phallic
-Freud proposed that gender identity should occur approximately age 5 during the fall stage
-Before age 3 children have no concept of gender identity so it is flexible
-During the phallic stage the child seeks pleasure from playing with their own genitals
They begin to pay attention to other peoples genitals and begin to understand physical differences between males and females .
-to resolve this, the child experience is the Oedipus complex (boys) or electra complex(girls)
Resolving these effectively is vital for healthy gender development
Psycodynamic A01- Oedipus Electra
-oedipus; for a proposed that boys desire their mother unconscious
-They see the father as arrival and as a result developed a murderers hatred for him as he stands in the way of possessing the mother
-However he recognises the father is stronger and develops castration anxiety as a result of him finding out
-To resolve this that will give up his love for his mother and begins to identify with his father
-Through this identification, he internalises his father’s gender identity
Electra : -upon discovering she doesn’t have a penis she develops penis envy and blames the mother for lack of this believing that she was castrated by her
-The girl also sees the mother as a love rival standing in the way of her father
-Over time she accepts she will never have a penis and sub substitute this penis envy for the desire to have children
-The anger towards other reduces causing her to identify with her mother and internal feminine gender behaviours
Psycodynamic A01 -identification and internalisation
-for both sexes identification with the same-sex parent means resolving their respective complexes
-Boy gives up desire for mother and identifies with father
-And the girl gives up penis envy and identifies with mother
-Identification leads to internalisation
-This is the process of adopting attitudes values and gender identity of the same same-sex parent
-A boy will internal the views and behaviours of his father and likewise the girls the same with their mother assuming their values as a childs own
Psycodynamic A03- androcentric and lacks temporal validity
-The series was developed using the case of little hands in 1909
-explanation of gender development was then applied to females after this study
-The concept has been deemed as sexist as well as androcentric (focused on men)
Feminist psychoanalysts believe that Freud‘s ideas lack temporal validity as they are rooted in 19 century views on women as the inferior sex
-Karen Horney argues that based on this floor logic it’s possible to assume that males may also suffer from womb envy, jealousy over females ability to create new life
As a consequence, horny argues both womb and penis and we are not in each traits in children but rather influenced by cultural norms and values of society at a given time
-Freud theory may therefore be considered invalid since it involves the application of 19th century views to 21st century Society
Psycodynamic A03- unscientific -ve
-It’s one scientific and lacks falsifiability
-Since it’s difficult to check the validity of Friday’s explanation in the development as his theory is considered untestable he also relies on the subjective interpretations of for example little hands
-The conclusions are basically his own opinions are not backed up with objective evidence
-It is not possible to imperially validate the unconscious incestuous feelings, children harbour towards their same-sex parent or all the aspects of the theory such as castration anxiety and penis envy
-Especially when testing young children who are unable to express themselves correctly
-Any disagreement with this theory can be attributed to the repression of such thoughts into the unconscious
-As a consequence, Freud theory of gender development appears pseudoscientific
-without the means to empirically measure the assumptions of gender development
-This is limitation for the psycho explanation for ginger development as a lack of objective false ability and empirical measures reduce the scientific credibility of the theory so by using it to explain gender development, maybe discrediting psychology as a scientific discipline.
Psycodynamic A03- contradicting evidence
-Freud theory of the odepius and electro complex depend on children having an awareness of genitals
there is evidence from Bem that many children age 3 to 5 didn’t know what the opposite sex genitalia look like
-Child sexual awareness is key in Freud study since since both the Oedipus and electric complex depend on the children having an awareness of the genitals
This makes it impossible for the child to develop penis envy in the Electric complex
-Therefore this undermines Freud’s theory since it highlights an integral floor in his psychoanalytic explanation of gender development.
Kohlbergs theory gender cog A01
-based on the idea that as your brain matures you have a better ability to think and make logical descisions developing an understanding of gender
-once children have the cognitive ability to understand that gender is fixed and constant (around 7 years) they develop schemas of appropriate and inappropriate same sex behaviour and characteristics
-e.g clothing, hairstyles, occupations and personality
-gender schemas and gender roles develop through environmental interactions where children actively seek out and imitate same sex models and focus on other gender info of how to behave like a boy or girl
- he called this self socialisation
Kohlbergs theory gender cog A01- identity and stability
Identity
-Ages 2-3
- children can identify themselves as a boy or girl based on outwards appearance
-the child however believes that gender can change
Stability
- around 3-5
- Recognised gender is something constant and have a stable concept ie that boys grow into men
- do not understand that gender is constant for other people across time and situations
-believing males may change into females if they engage on female activity
- they understand they will always be a boy/grl but not that other will stay
-they are swayed by outward appearance
Kohlbergs theory gender cog A01- constancy
- approx age 6
- do not rely on outward appreance to believe someone is a boy or girl
- a persons sex is the same across time and situations
-ie they still regard a man in a dress as a man but just may perceive it a different or unusual - kholberg believe it was at this time children actively seek out role models to imitate to help them develop their sense of gender
Kohlbergs theory A03- mcchonghy evaluation
-mc found that young children who were shown a line drawing of a doll woth male genital visible through the dress under the age of 5 judged the doll to be a female use to its external appreance
-this demonstrate the lack of ability to conserve before the age of 6/7
-this age is lined with the ages outlined by Kohlbergs cognitive development age theory
- therefore supports his stage theory in explaining understanding of gender
- furthermore monroe et al found that Kohlbergs three stages of gender identity was similar and occurred in the sa,e order in six diff cultures
-therefore also provides evidence that the three stages may be universal and based on biological maturation of congivitve structures as kholberg claims which strengthens the explanation
Kohlbergs theory A03- nomothetic strength
- it is a sequential cognitive developmental explanation of gender so can therefore apply to anyone
- the universal application means the finding can be more widespread and generalisable to the whole population unlike the psycodynamic theory which mostly relies on ideographic case studies as a basis for its theories
-e.g the case of little hans which Freud used as an explanation for unresolved conflict in the phallic stage as ab explanation from gender development
-this is a strength as it can allow his finding to be genralsiased to the whole population
Kohlbergs theory A03- weakness methodological
- his theory was developed using interviews woth children as young as -3
-p may lack the articulatory and vocal skills to convey their true beliefs - they are susceptible to leading questions so it’s difficult to test for reliability as they would likely swap their answers immediately the second time they were asked because they would assume they were wrong the first time
-so although children may have complex ideas about gender its difficult to measure it in a reliable way - reducing the reliability of his thoery
- Sandra Bem also argue there were methldogical issues with the way gender constancy is measured
-she argued asking children to resolves the contradiction between genitals and clothing led them to the cue most relevant to our society - identify gender on the basis of clothing demonstrating their understanding of the world not gender
-therefore also undermining the validity of th measurement of gender constancy from a methodological perspective
Androgyny- A01
-androgyny is the mixture of feminine and masculine characteristics
-sex role stereotypes-are a shared set of expectations within a social group and about what men and women should do and think
-male sex stereotypes; physically rigourous jobs, e.g. soldiers or mechanics and doing dangerous activities E.G extreme sports
-Female sex stereotypes; caring professions E.G teaching on nursing, being homemakers, and being preoccupied with appearance
-Androgyny is a mixture of both
Androgyny- A01-bem
-Bem introduced the concept of psychological androgyny by proposing that person can be both masculine and feminine
-She tested this by creating a psychological test the sex role in inventory BSRI, to measure androgyny developing this by asking 100 American undergraduate which personality traits they thought were desirable for men and women
-Me’s original list of 200 items was narrowed down to 20 masculine and 20 feminine items with 20 neutral items as distractors
-For example, a male Trait would be forceful and aggressiveness
-Feminine traits would be gentleness and affectionate
-To be considered androgynous and equal score of masculine and feminine would have to be achieved
Androgyny- A01
-she found that 34% of males and 27% of females to be androgynous which showed a large minority of people having both a mixture of female and male traits
-Be concluded that androgynous is associated with psychological well-being as those who are androgynous are better equipped to adapt to range of situations
-Peters and Cantrell also use the BSRI and found that androgynous females had the best quality of relationships
Androgyny- A03 strength, support for androgyny and psychological health
-E.G when parakesh in 2010 tested 100 married females in India and masculinity femininity and a range of health factors including physical health anxiety depression
-Found that females with a higher masculinity score had lower depression scores whereas femininity scores had a high depression score
-This supports the view that Andrey has a psycho protective effect and those who showed both masculinity and femininity were healthier than those who displayed characteristics which distinctly match up with their sex
-Therefore, this is a strength as a positive correlation has been found between androgyny and psychological health which supports predictions that it is more healthy to avoid fixed sex stereotype
-However, this research is correlational so therefore we cannot distinguish cause and effect
-So therefore it is not necessarily possible to predict the androgyny is causing better psychological health
Androgyny- A03 - self awarness -ve
-People may not have insight into their degree of masculinity, femininity or androgyny
-Asking people to write themselves on a questionnaire relies on people having an understanding of their personality and behaviour that they might not necessarily have
-Gender is a social construct so it may be more open to interpretation than sex
-Questionnaire scoring systems maybe subjective and people’s application of the seven point scale may defer
-This suggests that the BSRI may not be an objective, scientific way of assessing masculinity, femininity or androgyny
Androgyny- A03 weakness self-esteem could be seen as a confounding variable
-Within her research, then placed great emphasis on the idea that androgynous individuals are more psychologically healthy as they are best place to deal with situations that demand a masculine feminine androgynous response
-This assumption has since been challenged
-Adam and sherer argue that people who develop a greater proportion of masculine traits are better adjusted as they are more highly valued indigenous cultures
-Therefore this is a weakness as Ben’s ideas may not be generalisable to every situation such as a male dominated workplace and so it’s difficult to say if androgynous is a psychologically healthier than masculinity alone.
Androgyny- A03 weakness poor temporal validity
Research by Hoffman and Borders in 2001
-They asked 400 undergraduate to rate the items on the BRI as masculine and feminine
- showed only two terms use in the BSRI we’re still endorsed as masculine and feminine
-And out of the 400 undergraduate ratings, none of the terms reached 75% agreement level
-This may be because the BSRI adjectives were selected back in this 1970s and peoples attitudes have changed since then so it’s questionable whether they are still appropriate
-this therefore suggests the BSR is no longer relevant as it lacks temporal validity so therefore is an outdated measure of androgyny
Discuss atypical gender development A01
-there are a number of conditions caused by abnormalities in chromosome pair 23
-These include Turner syndrome and Kleinfelter syndrome
-Kleinfelter-genetic condition where the person has XXY chromosomes rather than the normal XY
-Although it’s a genetic condition it is not inherited from parents but occurs through meiosis the cell division that produces egg and sperm cells
-An error in cell division causes the egg/sperm cell to have an extra copy of the X chromosome in each of its body cells
-It occurs in one in every 750 births
-A person with KS has very distinct characters and physical appearances
-Externally male in features, some breast development of puberty, poor language skills and high gender identity, confusion and risk of anxiety and depression
-Reduced body hair and underdeveloped genitals
-Psycho: Poorly developed language skills and reading ability
-Passive and shy
-Does not respond well to stressful situations
- lack of intrsest in sexual activity
Atypical gender development- turners
Occurs when the second sex chromosome is partially or completely missing
-Therefore the infant is referred to as XO
-Not associated with all the parents and is rarely with the second child which is different to some of the disorders
-The individual has 45 chromosomes rather than the usual 46
-Sufferers have a vagina and a womb but do not menstruate due to their underdeveloped ovaries
-Are shorter than the average and may present symptoms such as low set ears webbed neck narrow hips act
-There are also differences in cognitive skills and behaviour compared with typical chromosome patterns E.G higher reading ability
-Lower performance on spatial visual memory mathematical skills
-Socially immature
Atypical gender development A03 -strength research has practical applications -treatments
-what are the benefits of studying atypical chromosome pattern? Is it provides opportunity for treating those with Turners or Klein filter syndrome
-Research into patients with KS and TS has enabled treatments to develop to improve the quality and duration of their lives
-research by herlihy showed the individuals identified and treated from a very young age has significant benefits compared to those who had been diagnosed in adulthood
-Further research is likely to lead to earlier diagnosis and increased understanding of those issues faced by those syndromes
-therefore research will have a direct benefit of people who have these atypical chromosome or patterns as well increasing our understanding of atypical development
-Testosterone and counselling has been used to help with behavioural language difficulties in those with KS
-Therefore, it is clearly helpful to the well-being of those concerned
Atypical gender development weakness, lack of casual relationship
-it is possible that the impact of environmental and or social influences are more important than the research suggest
-For example the social maturity and females with tennis syndrome may be due to the other response to their physical immaturity rather than that biological cause related to their chromosomes
-Therefore it’s difficult to establish the cause of social maturity has been due to the atypical chromosome patterns
-A further criticism of research into this area is that there is no such thing as typical and atypical gender behaviour
-One of the symptoms of Turner syndrome is that the females are socially immature compared to the vast majority of female
-Research maccoby and jacklin Has actually found that there are significantly more gender differences within the sex is them between them
-This therefore suggested the assumption about typical genderbehaviour are often based around stereotypes than fact
Gender schema theory- A01
-The theory that gender role development is influenced by the formation of schemas or mental representations of masculinity and femininity
- Gender schema is an organised set of attitudes, beliefs and values stored in memory about gender behaviour
-They state that children learn schemas related to gender through the media, parents and other children
-was proposed by Martin and Haverlton
-Once the child has the schema its organises information that is presented to them E.G they learn the appropriate toys to play with based on gender
-The theory proposes that we learn gender schemas about what’s appropriate and inappropriate gender behaviour throughout observations and interactions with others
-They developed from about two years
-I
Gender schema theory a01
-after basic gender identity is established the children are most interested in and therefore focus on schemes which match their own in group gender identity and avoid outgroup gender schemas
- In groups: socialise the child into gender constant behaviour a group with which someone identifies with for example if you are a girl you will identify with the group of girls,
-an outgroup schemea: for some reason a group that isn’t accepted E.G if you’re a girl, the outgroup would be boys
- these provide the basis for what it seems to be appropriate and inappropriate gender behaviour
-Once the child has identified with their in group they then begin to negatively evaluate the outgroup and positively evaluate the in group-so this leads to the child wanting to be more like that in group and less like their out group
-E.G a girl would want to wear pink and play with the dolls to be more like the girl in group and play less sport to not be like an out group of boys
-Explain explains why children’s gender beliefs are so strong, children ignore information that doesn’t fit their gender schema for example if they saw a video of a man being a nurse they would ignore that information so the schemer doesn’t change
- but Gender schemas can change and become more complex as a child cognitive ability develop
-By adolescence gender scheme is become more flexible as children understand that gender roles are socially constructed and many teenagers become less sex type and more androgynous
Gender schema theory a03 supporting evidence
-research conducted by Martin and Haversian
- 5 and six-year-old children were shown a picture of people carrying out activities that were schemer constant
-E.G a girl playing with a doll
-And gender inconsistent
-E.G a girl playing with a gun
-They found the recall of scheme of constant pictures was generally good
-However inconsistent images were often distorted so the expected sex was carrying out the activity
-This shows that children under the age of six are more likely to remember gender consistent information than gender inconsistent information
-Demonstrating the maintenance of an group schema supporting the gender schema theory for explaining gender development in terms of schema related behaviour
Gender schema theory a3 evidence limitation
-martin and Halverson research was a lab experiment meaning that it was conducted in highly controlled condition
-Although this allows for a cause and affect relationship to be established, it lacks mundane realism and there is a possibility for investigator biased to influence the results
-This is highly likely here because the research was conducted by Martin and Halverson themselves
-The same people who propose the gender scheme of theory’: they would be looking for supporting evidence
-This could therefore be seen to reduce the reliability of Martin and Havel study because the results may not be generalisable outside of the lab environment and they may also have been influenced by investigator bias
Gender schema theory a03 overemphasises the role of the individual in gender development
-gender schema theory can’t explain why different children brought up in a similar//environment respond differently to gender appropriate behaviour
-For example, it cannot explain why some girls may prefer to play with action figures
-It also ignores biological factors such as hormones which according to the biological approach govern all human behaviour
-So although the theory emphasises how schemas might develop it fails to explain why they develop and take the form that they do
-This is limitation of the theory because it overlooks the importance of the biological influence and cannot explain all types of behaviour relating to gender
Gender schema theory a01 further suppporting evidence
-Little and Martin from the children under the age of four show no signs of gender stability or constancy but nevertheless demonstrated strongly sex type behaviours and attitude
-This show shows that children can acquire information about gender roles before they reached ability and constancy which contradicts Colberg’s theory
-However it is in line with the gender schema theory supporting the idea that children seek out gender accuses before constancy.
Gender identity, bio + social A01- brain sex theory
GID occurs when an individual believes their biological sex is not in accordance with their gender
Bio
- The brain sex theory suggests that GID is caused by specific brain structures that differ in males and females
-ZHOU ET AL - found the in a particular area within the thalamus (BSTc) is around 40% larger in males than females
-In a post-mortem study of six male to female transgender individuals the BSTC was found to be a similar size to that of a typical female brain
-This was further confirmed by KRUJIVER et al
-Who studied the same brain tissue and found the number of neurons in the BSTC of these transient individuals with similar to that other typical female brain
Gender identity, bio + social A01- genetics
-Evidence suggest the GID may have a genetic basis
-Coolidge Assessed 157 twin pairs for evidence of GID
-Found that 62% of GID cases were accounted for by genetic variance
-Similarly heylens Compared 20 3MZ and 20 1DD twins where one of each power was diagnosed with GD
-Found that 39% of the MZ twins we concur for GID compared to none of the DZs
Gender identity, bio + social A01- psychoanalytic
-suggests that GID in males is caused by the child experiencing extreme separation anxiety before GID has been established
-The child fantasise of a symbolic fusion with his mother to relieve the anxiety and the danger of separation is removed
-The consequence of this is the child becomes overly close to the mother and adopt a female gender identity
-Stollar interviewed GID mails and found that they had overly close motherhood relationships
-Which could have led to greater female identification and confused gender identity in the long-term. It suggested that severe parental rejection is the cause of GID and females.
-Unconscious of the child identifies as a Male to gain acceptance from the father which was proposed by Zucker
Gender identity, bio + social A01- cognitive
-LIBEN AND BIGLER
-suggested that dual pathway occurs when children acquire attitudes and behaviours which are in accordance with gender stereotypes
- The first pathway, gender identity leads to the development of gender schemas the direct appropriate gender attitudes and behaviour leading to normal gender development
-In the second the child’s personal interest and activities become more dominant than their gender identity and this intern influences their schemer
-For example, a boy who plays with dolls might believe that the dolls can be for boys and girls
-Events such as these leads to non-sex type behaviour gender chemist
-In most people this could lead to androgynous behaviour and more flexible attitude to gender. However in a small minority it could lead to the formation of gender identity disorder.
Gender identity, bio + social A01- bio weakness contradictory evidence
-although most transsexuals report gender confusion in early childhood
-Chung Eau found that hormonal influences that affect the size of the BSTc volume are not triggered until adulthood
-Therefore this evidence casts doubt on the idea that brain differences are present in early childhood
-And therefore GID is directly caused by BSTc volume
Gender identity, bio + social A01- bio -ve twin studies inconclusive
-The concordance rates for GID are not very high (39%)
-This makes it very difficult to separate the influence of nature and nurture within these investigations
-Twins, especially MZ twins may influence each other and the environmental conditions they’re exposed to likely to be very similar
-E.G one twin maybe simply imitating the behaviour of the other by dressing and acting as the opposite sex
-Also due to the fact that GID occurs so rarely sample sizes in twin studies tend to be extremely small therefore this is a weakness as limits the extent to which effective generalisation can be made
- additionally the focus on genetic factors means that such explanations are at risk of being guilty of biological determinism and therefore over simplifying the complex disorder that is GID
This suggests that a more holistic view should be taking when explaining GID when multiple risk factors both biological and social are considered equally as each slightly increased the likelihood of developing GID .
Gender identity, bio + social A01- suporting evidence for psycoanalitci theory
-there is supporting evidence by Zucker Eau
-They studied on 115 boys with concerns about their gender identity
= of the boys who would diagnose GID 64% diagnosed the separation anxiety disorder
-Zucker also found high levels of emotional involvement in the mothers of boys with GID
-This suggests that GID and males is linked to the relationship with their mothers supporting the psycho analytic explanation
-however the psycho analytic theory may be considered gender bias because it only offers an explanation for the development of GID males
-Because females according to this they do not feel the same pressure to take on the role of the mother in fear of separation
-This idea was supported by Rica who suggested that GID emails is more motivated by the lack of a father during the critical period for attachment formation as opposed to an absent mother
-Therefore the subjective nature of the unconscious concepts proposed by the psychotic theory reduces the scientific credibility of such explanations
Gender identity, bio + social A01- cognitive lacks sufficient explanatn
-it is argued that the cognitive explanation of GID are descriptive rather than explanatory
-There’s very little explanation as to why a child may become interested in activities that are not associated with their own sex or how these activities would cause the development of non-sex type schemes
-The fellow to identify the cause of non-sex type scheme is weakens the validity of the cognitive theory
-In contrast the biological theory can provide some explanation for why the child may engage in activities not associated with their own sex
-E.G they have a genetic vulnerability towards developing these schemas
Media and culture- media/ can use for culture too
-The social learning theory can explain the influence of the environment in shaping gender identity and this includes the influence of culture and the media
-For example in the media
-indirect reinforcement: if a child observes in the media that the consequences of another persons gender behaviour are pleasant the behaviour is more likely to be imitated by the child
-If the consequence of the behaviour seen in the media leads to punishment the gender specific behaviour is less likely to be imitated
-identification: this is the process where by a child attaches themselves to a role model
-Role models tend to be attractive high status unusual the same sex as a child
-The individuals in the media tend to be seen as having a high status and more likely to be influenced by their gender behaviour
-When a child imitate the behaviour of a role model this is called modelling
-E.G a little girl copy the TV character setting a table or feeding her doll she’s modelling the behaviour she’s witnessed
-When children see other people perform gender appropriate behaviour it increases their self efficacy, this is where it increases the child’s belief that they are capable of carrying out such beliefs in the future
- similarly the failure of others that we identify with can decrease a persons faith in their ability to master similar tasks
Media and culture-culture
-culture is the beliefs, customs and traditions of a specific group of people -
-Margaret Meade studied cultural groups in Papua New Guinea
-She found that the Arapesh men and women were gentle and responsive
-The Mundugmor- men and women were aggressive and hostile seeking power in position
-the tchambulip exhibited gender differences women were dominant impersonal while the men were emotional dependent
-she shows that there may not be a direct biological relationship between sex and gender gender roles could be dependent on culture
Media and culture- culture weakness
-needs study has been criticised for making generalisations based on a short period of study
-Another researcher conducted a follow-up study in the same place soon after
-He argued that needs findings were flawed and she had been misled by some participants and her preconceptions influenced her reading of events
-Therefore this is a weakness as it shows observer bias and ethnocentrism
-Questioning her conclusions
Media and culture- weakness culture
There is evidence to support that gender is biological and cultural
-There are many cross cultural similarities in gender roles
-For example buss found similar patterns in Mate preferences in 34 countries across all continents
-In all cultures, women sort men who could offer wealth and resources whilst men look for youth and physical attractiveness in a potential partner
-These findings would therefore suggest that if some gender roles are universal and they must have a biological origin rather than a cultural one
Media and culture- culture strength
-hofstede argues women now are increasingly active in the workplace and away from domestic spheres
- This is a breakdown of traditional stereotypes and advanced industrial societies
-In traditional societies, women are still house makers due to social, cultural and religious pressures
-Therefore this suggests that gender roles are very determined by cultural context
Media and culture- media supporting research
-The media provides role models with whom children may identify and want to imitate
-Farnham and Faragher found that men were more likely to be shown in autonomous roles within a professional context
-E.G the company boss
-Whereas women what I’ve seen in domestic settings
-E.G child rearing
-This suggests that the media may play a role in reinforcing widespread social stereotypes concerning male and female behaviour
Media and culture- media supporting research
-furthermore McGee and frueh conducted research on the amount of TV children watched and their knowledge of sex stereotypes
-They found that children age 6 to 12 who watched more than 24 hours of TV a week held more sex stereotype perceptions then those who watch 10 hours or less
-This study suggests that the media is a source of information for sexual stereotypes and was especially seen for male
Teenagers
-Therefore this is a strength as it shows the media has lots of influence on children and their perception of gender roles
-However this research was correlation and cannot establish whether the TV viewing causes the sex role stereotypes
-Additionally it cannot be a certain how this increase and knowledge affects the behaviour of the children
Media and culture- counter steryotypes strength application
-in recent years there have been many examples of counter stereotypes in the media
-Such as the Disney movie brave which challenges traditional gender roles
-And Marvel’s top-selling movie Captain Marvel
-Using strong female role models in the media
-It is hoped that these count stereotypes may help to reduce gender stereotyping and gender discrimination in society
-additionally the advertising standards authority has toughen rules on ads that are deemed to present activities as only appropriate for one gender or another
-Or that mock those who do not conform to stereotypical gender roles
-Aunty that perpetuate sex stereotypes from men not doing housework and girls being less academic, them boys will be banned under rules being proposed by the industry watchdog dog
-Therefore this is a strength as it can help to reduce negative gender stereotypes and implore more modern beliefs
